July 26, 2016 (Mainichi Japan)
Stabbing spree in Japan leaves at least 19 dead, dozens injured

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A knife-wielding man went on a stabbing rampage at a residential care facility for the disabled in Kanagawa Prefecture west of Tokyo early Tuesday, killing at least 19 people and injuring 26 others, 20 of them seriously, police and firefighters said.

Kanagawa prefectural police arrested Satoshi Uematsu, 26, who drove to the Tsukui Police Station and turned himself around 3 a.m. Tuesday, saying "I did it."

"It's better that the disabled disappear," the police quoted him as saying.

Uematsu, who said he was a former employee of the facility in the city of Sagamihara and a resident of the city, had a bag full of knives and other edged tools, some bloodstained, when he turned himself in.

The police arrested him on suspicion of attempted murder and unlawful entry to a building.

The police are investigating the motive behind the attack that took place at the Tsukui Yamayuri En (Tsukui Lily Garden) facility around 2:30 a.m., they added.

According to its website, the residential care facility for the disabled was set up by the Kanagawa prefectural government and run by a social welfare corporation. It has about a 30,000-square-meter total site area and can accommodate up to 160 people.

As of the end of April, it had 149 residents between 19 and 75 years of age, with 40 of them believed to be over 60.

The facility is located about 50 kilometers from downtown Tokyo and is near private residences and an elementary school.

After the news about the stabbing rampage spread, families of the residents as well as neighbors of the facility flocked to the facility to get information about the residents' condition, saying they had received no information from the facility.